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New Jersey Transit Bus Operations
}} New Jersey Transit Bus Operations, Inc. is the bus division of New Jersey Transit, providing bus service throughout and , with many routes going to and Philadelphia. History New Jersey Transit was created by the New Jersey Public Transportation Act of 1979 to acquire, operate, and contract for transportation services in the public interest. New Jersey Transit Bus Operations, Inc. came into being the following year, when it acquired Transport of New Jersey. Other purchases and buyouts in the 1980s expanded the bus division of NJ Transit. The current version of NJ Transit Bus Operations, Inc. came into being in 1992, when NJ Transit Mercer, Inc., and the Atlantic City Transportation Company was folded into NJ Transit Bus Operations New Jersey Transit History. Today, New Jersey Transit Bus Operations owns or leases 3,008 buses (as of June 2005) New Jersey Transit Facts at a Glance for FY 2005 All owned buses can be moved around by NJT Bus Operations between private carriers and self-operations, between different private carriers, and from self-operations to private carriers as seen fit by New Jersey Transit (regardless of whose name actually appears on the bus). Previously, the Newark City Subway was handled within New Jersey Transit Bus Operations as Route 7. This ended on July 16, 2006 when an extension to Newark Broad Street opened, and the Newark Light Rail is now a part of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. Route types and numbering Types of routes New Jersey Transit bus routes can be divided into three types: * Transit: Local, intra-city bus service making frequent stops, such as the 70 Newark-Livingston and the 452 Camden Local routes. * Shorter-Distance suburban: Commuter service originating from or ending at a major terminal, such as the 165 New York-Westwood and the 400 Philadelphia-Sicklerville routes. These routes are mostly local in nature. * Longer-Distance suburban: Routes that are least 12 miles long, with at least the last four miles having express service. Such examples are Route 9 services (130 series routes) operating between Old Bridge and Newark, Jersey City, and New York City, and express service between Willowbrook Mall and New York City. ---- Numbering of routes New Jersey Transit-owned routes are numbered according to type of route and area of the state. Except for routes 12, 24, 31, and 44 (controlled by Coach USA, this numbering only applies to routes directly operated by New Jersey Transit or under contract. * 1-99: Intrastate service originating from Hudson, Union, and Essex counties. Routes 12, 24, 31, and 44 in Newark, which are controlled by Coach USA, fall under this scheme, and also accept NJ Transit transfers. * 100-199: Northern New Jersey interstate service to and from . * 200-299: NO ROUTES * 300-399: Special event, seasonal services, northern New Jersey park-and-ride services, long-distance local routes at least 40 miles long originating from Philadelphia, and the 319-New York City-Atlantic City express. * 400-449: Shorter-distance suburban routes that cross the . * 450-499: Local intrastate service in Camden, Gloucester, and Salem counties. * 500-549: Local service around Atlantic City. * 550-599: Long-distance service originating from Atlantic City serving points in southern New Jersey. * 600-699: Local service in Mercer County. * 700-799: Local intrastate service in Passaic and Bergen County that does not go to Newark. * 800-849: Local intrastate service in Middlesex and Monmouth counties not going to Hudson or Essex Counties. * 850-999: WHEELS routes (including the Morris County Metro routes) mostly serving northwestern New Jersey, including bus-to-rail shuttles to office parks and community shuttles. Many WHEELS routes are not connected to any other New Jersey Transit bus routes. (NOTE: Morris County Metro routes M1-M10 are officially Routes 871-880.) ---- Routes Routes are given below by where they operate in the state of New Jersey. In addition, routes are given as exact fare (no change provided) and full service (change provided) with respect to fare collection. A full description of exact fare and full service is given in the Fares section. Northern Division intrastate Originating from Hudson, Essex, and Union counties All routes are exact fare lines unless indicated otherwise. Routes 12, 24, 31, and 44 have different fare structures set by Coach USA, but accept transfers from connecting routes listed below. Passaic and Bergen County intrastate routes All routes are exact fare lines. Middlesex and Monmouth County intrastate routes All lines are exact fare lines EXCEPT the 307. Northern Division interstate All routes depart from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City unless noted otherwise. Unless noted otherwise, all routes are full service lines. Southern Division intrastate Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County intrastate service All of these routes are exact fare lines, unless otherwise noticed. *'403' Camden-Turnersville via White Horse Pike *'405' Camden-Merchantville-Cherry Hill Mall *'407' Camden-Merchantville-Moorestown Mall *'413' Camden-Mount Holly-Burlington *'419' Camden-Riverside-Burlington *'450' Camden-Cherry Hill Mall *'451' Camden-Lindenwold Patco *'452' Cramer Hill to 36 Street River LINE via Downtown Camden *'453' Camden-Ferry Ave. Patco *'455' Cherry Hill Mall-Deptford-Paulsboro *'457' Camden-Moorestown Mall *'459' Sicklerville-Voorhess Town Center *'460' Camden area school route *'463' Sicklerville-Woodbury *'468' Penns Grove-Salem-Woodstown Service across the Delaware River All of these lines are full service lines, unless noted otherwise. Unless indicated otherwise, routes make a loop around Downtown Philadelphia and run through Camden. Local Atlantic City routes All of these routes are exact fare lines. *'501' Atlantic City-Brigantine Beach *'502' Atlantic City-Hamilton (Atlantic County) via White Horse Pike *'503' Atlantic City area school routes *'504' Ventnor Plaza-Bungalow Park *'505' Longport-Margate-Venice Park *'507' Atlantic City-Pleasantville-Ocean City *'508' Atlantic City-Hamilton (Atlantic County) via Galloway Township *'509' Atlantic City-Somers Point-Ocean City Long Distance routes from Atlantic City All of these routes are full service lines. *'319' Wildwood (limited service)-Atlantic City-Toms River-Jersey City-New York Express via Garden State Parkway *'551' Atlantic City-Sicklerville-Philadelphia Express via Atlantic City Expressway *'552' Atlantic City-Wildwoods-Cape May Express via Garden State Parkway *'553' Atlantic City-Pleasantville-Mays Landing-Millville-Bridgeton-Upper Deerfield Local *'554' Atlantic City-Lindenwold PATCO Local via White Horse Pike *'559' Atlantic City-Toms River-Lakewood Local via Route 9 Routes in Mercer County All of these routes are exact fare lines except for the 418. *'418' Trenton-Mount Holly-Camden Express *'600' Trenton-Plainsboro via Route 1 Corridor *'601' Ewing-Trenton-Hamilton Marketplace via Clinton Avenue *'602' Trenton-Pennington via Pennington Road *'603' Quaker Bridge Mall-Trenton-Hamilton Marketplace via Broad Street *'604' Trenton-East Trenton via North Clinton Avenue *'605' Quaker Bridge Mall-Princeton-Montgomery Township *'606' Princeton-Trenton-Hamilton Marketplace via Route 206 and Greenwood Avenue/Nottingham Way *'607' Independence Plaza-Trenton-Ewing *'608' West Trenton-Trenton-Hamilton Railroad Station via State Street *'609' Ewing-Trenton-Quaker Bridge Mall *'610' Trenton/Princeton public schools *'611' Perry Street Shuttle *'612' Formerly 976 Princeton Junction-Lawrence Bus-to-Rail shuttle *'655' "The Health Line" WHEELS Suburban Transportation Services All of these routes are exact fare lines. *'884' Somerville-Branchburg-Whitehouse-Clinton Bus-to-Rail shuttle *'890' Pohatcong Plaza-Easton via South Main Street (Deviated fixed route) *'891' Pohatcong Plaza-Easton via Heckman (Deviated fixed route) *'966' Convent Station Employer Shuttle *'967' Sparta Diamond Express *'970' Passaic-Totowa Express *'971' Paterson-Totowa Express *'973' Hackettstown (Deviated fixed route) *'978' Newark-Raritan Center Express *'979' Irvington-Raritan Center Express *'980' New Brunswick-Piscataway Bus-to-Rail shuttle *'981' Port Liberte-Grove Street (Jersey City) *'986' Summit-Berkeley Heights-Plainfield Bus-to-Rail shuttle Divisions and garages New Jersey Transit Bus Operations is divided into the Northern and Southern Divisions. New Jersey Transit garage locations (Howell Garage not listed) Below is a list of all facilities and the buses housed in them. Northern division New Jersey Transit's northern division consists of 11 garages owned and operated by New Jersey Transit, and numerous contractors providing service under contract to New Jersey Transit or leasing buses from New Jersey Transit for their own routes. Detailed route assignments and ADA accessibility are given below. (NOTE: The Port Authority Bus Terminal and the Wikipedia:George Washington Bridge}} Bus Terminal are not fully accessible for 100- and 300-series routes.) Some peak-service trips on routes out of Oradell and Wayne may also be handled by Meadowlands during peak service, and some AM service along the Gold Coast to North Bergen is handled by Ironbound and Howell. Counties served in the Northern Division directly or under contract are Bergen, Essex,Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, eastern and central Somerset, Union, and Warren* counties in New Jersey, Orange County in *, and the city of *. :*Access Link paratransit service is not available for routes in this jurisdiction. Northern Divison operated directly Numbers in bold are buses with high back seats. :*''Indicates seasonal or special event service.'' :**''Some service is contracted.'' Northern division contracted *Coach USA companies. Southern division NJ Transit Bus Operations' southern division consists of four garages owned and operated by New Jersey Transit and service operated in Salem County by Salem County Transit under contract. Counties served by the Southern Division directly or under contract include Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, southern Somerset, and Salem counties. Southern Division operated directly Numbers in bold are buses with high back seats. :*''Indicates seasonal or special event service.'' Southern Division contracted Private operators leasing buses from NJ Transit These buses are painted in the colors of the respective operators. *Coach USA companies. Fares Fares on New Jersey Transit buses are based on distance, with different fares for interstate service, intrastate service in northern and southern New Jersey, and service from Monmouth County to Newark, Jersey City, and New York City. The exact fare can be found out through NJ Transit's trip planner. Monthly pass prices (for multiple zones) also vary between northern New Jersey and southern New Jersey interstate and intrastate, and for routes based out of Howell Garage. The base one-zone intrastate fare is $1.25, but goes up for each zone traveled (50¢ for a second zone in South Jersey, and 70¢ for a second zone in North Jersey). Most local trips are four zones or less. An interstate two-zone fare to/from New York City is $2.30, while a two-zone fare to/from Philadelphia is $2.05. Transfers cost 60¢ in northern New Jersey, and 55¢ in southern New Jersey and are valid for two hours for a one-zone ride on a second bus route, or a one-way ride on any of the three light rail routes in New Jersey. Transfers are not valid for trips to and from New York City, Philadelphia, or Wilmington (except for transfer to/from the River LINE at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden for travel to/from Philadelphia, through purchase of a two-zone interstate fare at $2.05). All routes (except for travel to/from Vince Lombardi Park & Ride) are exact fare or full service lines. *Exact fare: Operator does not handle money or have access to money. Customers must deposit their own fare (exact change and $1 bills accepted). *Full service: Operator handles money and provides change for $1, $2, $5, $10, and $20 bills. MCI cruisers are used primarily on full service lines. Transit-style buses are used primarily on exact fare lines. However, all MCI cruisers operated by New Jersey Transit are full-service buses (as these buses do not have fareboxes). The 319 NYC-Toms River-Atlantic City Express route charges northern New Jersey fares for travel between New York and Toms River. South of Toms River, southern New Jersey fares are charged. Passes Weekly and monthly intrastate (excluding Howell routes for travel for points north of Old Bridge), interstate, and Route 9/18 passes (for Howell routes for travel from Old Bridge and points south to Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken and New York City) are available for purchase either from New Jersey Transit or authorized vendors. Many private carriers, particularly in northern New Jersey, accept New Jersey Transit passes for intrastate travel. Many of these passes also have rail cross-honoring privileges. Passes are not valid on special event or seasonal routes (except for the 316), or for travel between Vince Lombardi Park & Ride and New York City on Bus Routes 167 or 321 (this service has its own fare structure). Equipment New Jersey Transit Bus Operations operates a variety of equipment throughout the state. Arguably the predominant equipment is the MCI D4000/D4500, which (including units leased to private carriers) comprises half of the total fleet (1,503 buses as of June 2006). MCI D series cruisers are used throughout New Jersey in local and express short-haul and long-haul service, the former being unique to New Jersey Transit. From 1980 until 1995, New Jersey Transit was a Flxible customer, with transit bus orders being procured exclusively through Flxible until it went out of business in 1996. Since then, New Jersey Transit has ordered RTS and NABI buses for transit service. On certain routes in Essex County, and along the Gold Coast and Palisades between the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge, articulated buses are employed to allow larger loads to be carried, primarily on the 13, 39, 70 routes, and most routes out of Fairview Garage. See also *New Jersey Transit *Buses used by New Jersey Transit References External links *New Jersey Transit official website *Unofficial New Jersey Transit fan page